Summary
In this chapter, we explored the idea of the social world as a collection of patterned phenomena, and how the social sciences attempt to make sense of those patterns. We value the characteristics of parsimony, predictiveness, falsifiability, fertility, and replicability in research. Research questions are one of four types – normative, hypothetical, factual/procedural, or empirical – depending on the goal or purpose of the investigation. Empirical research questions deal with the world ‘as it is,’ seeking general explanations for patterns of outcomes or classes of phenomena. A good research question is one whose answer takes as much space as your paper has length.
Articles
Web Extra: Bounded Theories and Bounded Investigations
Web Extra: Non-Causal Research in Political Science
The “Ideal” Research Design: The Experiment
Vocab Flashcards
[qdeck random=”true”]
[q] Type of research question: asks about how the world is, based on observable data and tested by scientific observation or experiment
[a] empirical
[q] Type of research question: identifies the basic facts of a situation
[a] factual/procedural
[q] Characteristic of a theory: We can identify observable implications that would occur if the theory were incorrect
[a] falsifiability
[q] Characteristic of a theory: suggests other observable implications or novel hypotheses
[a] fertility
[q] Type of research question: tries to predict what might happen
[a] hypothetical
[q] Type of research question: focuses on what should happen
[a] normative
[q] Characteristic of a theory: explains more while using less
[a] parsimony
[q] Characteristic of a theory: theory helps explain cases other than those from which it was derived
[a] predictiveness
[q] Characteristic of research: sufficient transparency in research practices and reporting to allow another researcher to recreate our analysis
[a] replicability
[q] A bounded statement of the phenomenon under investigation, usually focused on explaining variation in an outcome
[a] research question
[q] An unbounded statement of the phenomenon of interest to the researcher
[a] research topic
[/qdeck]
Review Quiz
[qwiz random=”true” random_mc=”true”]
[q] When we can identify the information that would tell us our argument is wrong, we say that the argument is ______.
[c]IGZlcnRpbGU=[Qq]
[c]IGZhbHNp ZmlhYmxl[Qq]
[c]IHJlcGxpY2FibGU=[Qq]
[c]IHBhcnNpbW9uaW91cw==[Qq]
[q] Research topics are preferable to research questions because they can be answered in many different ways; they don’t preclude any potential avenues of discussion
[c]IFRSVUU=[Qq]
[c]IEZB TFNF[Qq]
[q random_mc=”false”] Questions about what-if scenarios are ______, and questions about the actual status of the world are _____.
[c]IHJlcGxpY2FibGUvZmFsc2lmaWFibGU=[Qq]
[c]IGVtcGlyaWNhbC90aGVvcmV0aWNhbA==[Qq]
[c]IGh5cG90aGV0aWNh bC9lbXBpcmljYWw=[Qq]
[c]IG5vbmUgb2YgdGhlIGFib3ZlKQ==[Qq]
[q] _______ research questions encourage or lead to the development of other research questions.
[c]IEZlcn RpbGU=[Qq]
[c]IEZhbHNpZmlhYmxl[Qq]
[c]IEZhY3R1YWw=[Qq]
[c[ Replicable)
[q ]A good research question should have a proposed answer about which reasonable people could disagree.
[c]IFRS VUU=[Qq]
[c]IEZBTFNF[Qq]
[/qwiz]